Saburomaru (三郎丸) distillery, the whisky arm of Wakatsuru Shuzo (若鶴酒造) in Tonami, Toyama Prefecture, will release SAB. Ocean Blue 2nd Batch on September 17, 2026. It is the second edition of the most expensive whisky in the distillery’s SAB. blended range, and the first version to carry spirit matured in mizunara (ミズナラ), the Japanese oak grown in Toyama.
Wakatsuru launched SAB. in December 2024 as a set of blended whiskies built around Saburomaru’s heavily peated malt. The earlier releases — Sunset Red, Night Black and the Hokuriku-only Snow White — sit below Ocean Blue, which the company treats as the line’s top expression. The blend marries Saburomaru malt with older grain whisky, and Wakatsuru sells the range under the slogan “rooted in the region, standing on the world stage.” A canned highball version is also on sale in Japan.
What is new in the 2nd Batch
For this edition the blending team folded in whisky aged in casks made from Toyama-grown mizunara, an oak valued for the sandalwood- and incense-like notes it gives up over long maturation. The distillery describes the result as keeping Ocean Blue’s heavy, layered body while adding depth and a smoother texture. It is bottled at 46% ABV in 700ml bottles at 9,900 yen including tax. Wakatsuru has not published a bottle count.
Saburomaru and Wakatsuru
Saburomaru is the only whisky distillery in the Hokuriku region on Japan’s Sea of Japan coast. Wakatsuru, a sake brewer founded in 1862, took a whisky license in 1952 during the post-war rice shortage and rebuilt the distillery in 2016 after a crowdfunding campaign. It now draws visitors for its ZEMON cast-metal pot stills — a copper-tin alloy design the company also sells to other producers — and it served as a reference point for the 2023 animated film Komada Distillery Welcome. Saburomaru sits on a growing list of Japanese whisky distilleries that have moved from experiment to regular bottlings.
What it means for readers abroad
Ocean Blue 2nd Batch is a domestic release with no announced export plan and no stated bottle count, so specialist retailers and auction sites in Europe and the US are the realistic way to find one. Saburomaru’s single malts and its Far East of Peat blends already reach those sellers through the distillery’s T&T Toyama arm. One label detail matters for buyers: SAB. is sold as a blended whisky, not as “Japanese whisky.” The grain component’s origin is not disclosed, and Japan’s 2021 industry standard reserves the “Japanese whisky” term for spirit distilled, matured and bottled in Japan. Drinkers who want the mizunara influence in a clearly single-origin bottle may prefer Saburomaru’s malt-only releases.
Source: jpwhisky.net (Japanese)